Les Impressionnistes: Auvers sur Oise et Giverny

- Travel Journal: September 12, 2007 -

Another amazing field trip. I love the countryside, and seeing the Impressionists museum and home of Claude Monet were just an experience out of this world. Moreover, my friend and I found a vast prairie that Vincent van Gogh used as an inspiration, located near his final resting place in Auvers sur Oise.

The trip home was interesting, as some Scottish guys (complete with kilt) boarded the train and started singing. Later, I gathered there was a Scotland vs. France football later that night. The thing that bothered me was not their singing, but it’s their cursing. They did say the “f” word quite casually, and I could not help but internally cringe at that.

Back home, I finished my homework and prepared a little for tomorrow’s sleep over at my friend’s apartment while watching Japanese Iron Chef episodes at YouTube. It was definitely a mistake, since their great food kept me hungry all night long. Sigh…X factor pork, giant lobster, giant eel, oh my, it’s just not fair. On the side note, I have to start cooking soon if I want to keep myself within my food budget.
I wonder if they sell white rice here; I thought I saw it somewhere...hmm.
In relation to food, tomorrow I will have dinner with one of Pepperdine alumni who tried to help me look for an apartment. We will be dining at one of the popular restaurants in Paris, near the Tour Eiffel. The restaurant’s name is Tribeca. So, I’ll be judging its reputation tomorrow night!

For the mean time, here are some of my personal favorites, some of them taken by my friend, Sandra. She is an awesome photographer! Anyway, feel free to visit the full "Les Impressionnistes" album here.






















- To be continued... -

Where was the RER train?

- Travel journal: September 11, 2007 -

Wow, what a weird dream I had last night. I was back in Indonesia, my wedding with my boyfriend was in four days, and everything’s been settled without my knowledge. My brother sent out all the invitations whereas my mother and mother-in-law settled everything else. I was just told that I would have my wedding in four days. Of course I rebelled since what’s supposed to be my happy day was arranged without my knowing. What a crazy dream. I am so glad it’s just a dream. Wow.

Ok, anyway, this day started off on a strange note. I woke up a little later than I expected. I went to the metro station, and something was off. Announcements were blaring inside of the station, unfortunately I had no idea what it was about. I guessed it was either a strike (I heard it happened often in Paris), a renovation, or a construction. Anyway, the main point is that it took 35 minutes to reach the transit point (Auberg) whereas it usually took 15 – 20 minutes. As a consequence, of course I missed the RER train that would take me to Cergy.

I looked at the monitor, wanted to know when the next RER train to Cergy would arrive. To my horror, there was none. I waited for a couple of minutes and a couple of trains passed by, still none of them going to Cergy. Remembering one of my classmates advice to go to another station nearby (St. Lazarre) and catch the suburbs train if there is no RER train going to Cergy. I walked out of the station and did just that (no, I did not get lost). However, there is no suburb train going to Cergy at 9 am! Oh my.

After texting my classmate about my inability to get on RER train to Cergy, I went back to Auberg and to my relief, I saw “Cergy” written as the destination of an upcoming RER train on 9:31 am. I would be very late, but I don’t care. Long story short, I got to ESSEC at 10:15 am. But voila, I was there at ESSEC. Right after I opened the door, the teacher greeted me, “Bonjour, Mira!” and I immediately replied, “I’ll explain everything to you later.” The funny thing was that there was another person coming in later than I was (11:30 am!!). Everyday, the class starts at 9 am and ends at 12:15 pm, by the way.

After class, I got another chance to see the Lady, Tour Eiffel. I went to my friend’s apartment located only a few blocks away from Tour Eiffel, and of course I opted to walk under the gorgeous tower one more time. This time, no camera. Feast to my eyes, I tell you, feast to my eyes. Her apartment is a total eye candy, too. It’s classic but modern at the same time. Oh, and I have to mention the 100 steps we took up the spiral stair case. Her apartment is located at the top floor after all!

We drank some white wine, tried (unsuccessfully) to hook her wifi, and saw the Live feed of 9/11 Memorial at New York. I was in New York in 2005, and I saw how big Ground Zero was. Only then, I understood the magnitude of the attack. My prayers go not only to all the victims and their family members, but also all people in the world who deal with terrorist attacks almost in daily basis.

After hanging out for a few hours in her apartment and asked her permission to spend a night at her place on Thursday night, I went back home. Now, I have to prepare for my field trip tomorrow (yes, another field trip!). This time, I will go to the beautiful small villages in Normandy where the French impressionists used to live!

- to be continued... -

Starting to Make a Little Sense of It

- Travel Journal: September 10, 2007 -

As expected, I had a difficulty waking up this morning. Not only because I am normally not a morning person, but also last night’s effort of uploading the videos for “Exhausted Traveler” footage took its tool on me. Nevertheless, I got to school 10 minutes late (let me remind you once more that 15 minutes late is common in France).

Today I did not do any particular explorations, but I found out that Le Louvre (the famous museum housing Léonard de Vinci’s “Monna Lisa”) is free for students every Friday from 6 – 9 pm. Isn’t that heavenly? Right away, I planned to go there this Friday.

Moreover, I ate at the school’s restaurant for the first time. The process is quite efficient, I must say. For a meal ticket of 2.80 Euros a piece, you get one main entrée and three side dishes. In addition, you get some bread for free, if you want. That is, in my opinion, cheap and very worth it. I blamed myself not to eat there sooner. Lastly, since I now have a residential address (Yay!) in Paris (no less), I finally can complete my ESSEC registration and put down my address. Woooh, you cannot imagine how satisfying it was to put down Paris as the city of my residential address. Jealous? Oh yeah, get in line ^_^. Sorry, it was not nice of me to say that, but I just could not help feeling tremendously happy that I live in Paris right now.

Anyway, I spent some time surfing other people’s blogs last night and today. Siduahuruf’s EuroTrip really inspired me, and I am very excited to explore more of Europe as time goes by. Already, my classmate invites me to go to Czech Republic and Frankfurt, Germany. I would be a fool to pass this opportunity. Moreover, my boyfriend recommended me to check out the spots Rion.nu took pictures in Paris. Seeing Rion’s pictures really made me embarrassed. His pictures tell stories at a great volume, and it is something that I lacked from my pictures. I realize I often stop at arranging compositions and forget about story telling. However, I have to be realistic in my (borrowed) camera’s ability. This Fuji FinePix F30 is not without its limitation. However, considering practical reasons, I had to opt not bringing a SLR camera and settle with this “little girl”.

- to be continued... -

A Peaceful Sunday

- Travel Journal: September 9, 2007 -

Ah, I messed up in remembering the mass times for today. I thought the Notre Dame D’Auteuil Church (yeah, I decided not to go to the American Church; it's too far) would have morning masses at 9:00 am and 11:30 am, but apparently they were 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Therefore, when I got there on 11:30, it was already on the consecration part. Oh well, better not make the same mistake next time. The church is beautiful, although my pictures hardly do it justice:





There were some homeless people in front of the church today. Now that I have an experience on how hard it was to find an apartment, I have a newfound respect for the homeless. I now realized how hard it is to be without a roof. I know my experience was nothing from what they were going through right now, but I would never see a homeless person the same way as I did before. I don’t have to say what I did to the homeless people in front of the church, but the least I could do is look at them in the eye and whisper “Bonjour”. God, you did not abandon me…I am certain you won’t abandon them, either.





After that, I went to the nearby Bois de Boulogne Park to get some walking done today. On the way there, I noticed that the pastry shop just 3 doors away from where I live still had a long queue outside of the shop. I said “still”, because the queue was there when I got out from the apartment.



Anyway, the walk in the park went nowhere, and after sick of getting sand and small pebbles in my shoes, I decided to return home. The park is so huge though, so I will be coming back to explore more of it next time.




It is rather a short entry today, since I have to update the blogs and do my homework for tomorrow. A bientot!

- to be continued... -

A Walking Adventure to Paris

- Travel Journal: September 8, 2007 -

I had a very nice, deep sleep last night that I woke up around 10:45 am today. At first, I thought I was going to be up and ready by noon, but apparently editing pictures and such took longer than I thought. Still, by 3 pm I was out of my apartment door, ready to explore Paris. My original destination was the American Church in Paris. In order to get there, I purposefully designed my walking route to pass the Eiffel Tower.

Seeing Eiffel Tower for the first time was just unreal. All of the sudden, the Lady appeared in my vision and I skipped a breath. “This is so cool!” was what I thought. I wonder if it’s going to be cooler than meeting Johnny Depp in person….hmm, I wonder. If you go to my album, you would see the pictures as I walked closer to the Eiffel Tower, walked underneath it, and continued to walk away from the Lady.

Now, at first I decided that's all I was going to see today besides the American Church. However, I impulsively decided to pass the Musee de L’armee, Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and even went as far as seeing the famous Le Louvre. I did not go in, but it was surreal standing in front of the pyramid and taking in my surroundings. Unbelievable, three days ago, I was not sure where to live, and today, I was standing in front of where Mona Lisa resided in. By the way, of course I found the American Church, but I barely spent my time there (since there was a wedding ceremony about to take place when I arrived).
















After that, I decided to go back home. My feet started to feel numb after all that walking (from 16th arr. to 15th arr., then to 7th and 1st arr.). After a quick look on mass schedule at a church near where I live and a quick grocery shopping at a nearby small supermarket (it will be closed tomorrow), I happily returned home.

- to be continued... -

Le Chateau de Fontainebleau

- Travel Journal: September 7, 2007 -

OK, so I was not dreaming. I really woke up in the 16th arrandisimont in Paris. Oh my God, what a thrill today’s gonna be! Today, we are visiting the Fontainebleau Chateau located to the South of Paris. Since we’re going from Cergy, the trip took approximately 2 hours. I was sleepy, but talking to other students really helped to ease my sleepiness away.

The castle is GEORGEOUS. My pictures may not do them justice, but I would recommend anyone who digs castles, art (especially classic interior design and paintings), and gardens to visit Fontainebleau at least once. Below are the highlights of the day, and you are welcome to visit the full album (221 pictures).















- to be continued... -

A Home at Last

- Travel Journal: September 6, 2007 -

The day sluggishly started. Despite going to bed early yesterday, I woke up around 7:30 am. I had to pack my carry-on luggage and head to school, and finally I was out of the hotel by 8:40 am. School started at 9 am. Great. And did I mention there would be a quiz today? Wow. Anyway, I took a different bus this time and it took me to a stop further away from school. So I had to walk back to the direction of the school, and by the time I reached the classroom (I was also lost for a bit – the classroom assigned for the lesson changes every single day), it was already 9:15 am. Thank God the quiz had just about to start. Interestingly enough, two other students came in later than me, and they had to miss parts of the quiz. Later on, the teacher said that even though grades in France range from 0 – 20, very rarely professors give a student a perfect 20. 14 is considered very good, and 16 is an excellent grade.

Anyway, hours ticked by and by noon, I was very restless. Would I get a place to stay tonight, or do I have to check-in to another hotel? My phone rang (or should I say, vibrated) at 12:05 pm, it was from the Indonesian Student Association girl. I could not answer the call since I was in class, but I called her right after the class was over. By the way, the last 15 minutes of class were spent on history of Fountainbleau Chateau, the place where the exchange students would be visiting tomorrow. I signed up for the trip even though I did not know where I would spend the night for the next two days. The photographer side of me just could not pass this opportunity. Anyway, she said I was welcomed to come right now (well, trip from Cergy to Paris with public transportation takes about 1 hour) and the Madam would like to see me as well.

The trip to Paris took me longer than I thought; I finally reached their place around 1:45 pm. They welcomed me warmly, even apologizing to the fact that there are construction works outside and inside of the apartment. But believe me, this is nothing compared to my Uptown Chicago apartment experience. Perhaps they took my “I don’t mind” response as a sign of desperation, but even though it’s partly true, I honestly don’t think their apartment is in that bad of a state. In fact, while they gave me a quick tour of the apartment, it is a very tasteful and cozy apartment. The building itself is old, but the French lady really has a good taste and decorate the apartment beautifully. I would describe it as classic elegance.

This is the best part. After showing me what could be my room (if I want it), she said I could stay until December. She also lowered the rent cost for a bit because of the construction work. Oh my God, she really has no idea how much she helped me. That Paris area (I would not specify which one) is one of the most prestigious areas in Paris, and to stay until December for that much cost for a month is like a miracle for me. Of course I said yes, I would take her room and stay until December! Are you kidding me? Immediately, a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulder and I felt so thankful to God. I would have a Paris address for four months! How cool is that!

I could now finally see Paris for its classic beauty, unhindered with stress over housing issue. Finally, after one week, I have a place to stay! I immediately remembered a conversation I had with one of the Pepperdine alumni in Paris that called me the other day, “Don’t worry, a month from now you would look back and laugh at this experience. I underwent the same experience too as an exchange student from France, and truly, the first week was the hardest.” Amen to that, amen to that.

After having a lunch (a real lunch, not the usual water and bread that I have been surviving with for the past 5 days) with the student association girl, I went back to Cergy and took some of my belongings and returned to Paris. Of course, the International Student Office staff was very happy to hear my great news. They helped me a great deal and I am forever thankful to them, too. I told them that I know some students who are still looking for a place to live for 4 months and that I would pass whatever information I have. When I returned to Paris, I was given a key and information on how to operate the washing machine, toilet, shower, etc. I was all set to start living here for four months.

Anyway, I am not writing from the Madam’s apartment. I am now living in a cozy room with simple artistic elegance. What an amazing luck I have. I know I have a bit of misfortune, but I always know that I have tremendous luck when it comes to things that really matters. I just have to wait for the right time. All this time, I always said to myself, “It is not my time yet (to get a housing).” Now that it came true, it was an amazing feeling. I was close to giving up, but God truly never leaves me. Thank you, God.

Of course, some of my wariness remains. What if I get kicked out from the house tomorrow? What if Madam does not like me and wants me to get out ASAP? I think I have to worry about that and you will find out as I continue writing this journal, but for now, I will live in the moment. Look, I am now living in Paris, at one of the most prestigious areas of the city, and I go to a university that has excellent reputation in Europe. At this moment, I think some of you might be jealous.

Anyway, I have to go to sleep. I have a Fountainbleau Chateau trip waiting for me tomorrow morning. I really thank God that I can go to this trip without worrying where I will sleep tomorrow night. What a great, great blessings.

- to be continued... -

A Ray of Light

- Travel Journal: September 5, 2007 -

I am still traumatic from the incident with the station patrol yesterday. Every time I entered a bus, I am so afraid that the driver will ask for the card that goes with my monthly pass. Luckily, nothing happened during my 5-minute bus trip to campus this morning. Very anti-climatic, huh?

After class, I called a girl who tried to contact me last night but I did not answer due to exhaustion. She is a member of Indonesian Student Association in Paris, and boy, she gave me a ray of light. She is now staying with a very nice French lady (she calls her “Madam”) and said that I can stay with them for a month while I’m looking for a place to live. The cost fits my budget very well and I just need to bring my luggage.

The problem is, her schedule is quite packed today and she could not meet me today. She would call me back tomorrow. I was quite disappointed but remained hopeful, to say the least. That afternoon, I also met an ex-Pepperdine exchange program student who is now working at Cergy. She sensed my stress and paid for my lunch (I guess I looked that pathetic), and we had a brief chat at one of Cergy’s cafes. When she left, she told me that I am always welcomed to call her anytime for help. That was very nice of her, and I sincerely appreciated that she spared her busy time to meet me today. I went back to ESSEC’s International Student Office after that, seeing that it would be a waste of time to go to Paris since I would not be able to meet this girl who offers me a place to stay for a month. But this time, I am presented with another housing option.

A landlord in Cergy (thanks to my Pepperdine colleague for finding his contact information) has a room available for me. However, since I am not able to show him sufficient financial guarantee (after all, I cannot open a bank account in France without a contract showing my name and a permanent France address), I would have to pay the rent costs for the whole 4 months plus a security deposit of 3-month rent. I was dumbstruck. This is very financially demanding, and I think it is doubtful that I can withdraw that amount of money in a short amount of time. My American bank would shut me down! I told the international office that I would need some time to think about it. After I was outside of ESSEC building, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check out the Cergy landlord’s apartment area (it is very close to campus, only 5-minute walk). After locating the street and see the area (I could not locate the apartment, unfortunately), I went back to the hotel.

I was exhausted, fed up, and very stressed out. I was so sick of staying in a hotel, and I really need to move on. I had to study for a quiz tomorrow and I just could not concentrate. I multitasked among watching “Witch Hunter Robin”, studying, and playing solitaire on my computer. After not being successful with any of those, I decided to go to sleep early. However, I won during my last solitaire game. I believe this is a good sign for tomorrow…

- to be continued... -

The New Low

- Travel Journal: September 4, 2007 -

I’m starting to hate this country. Not only my housing search did not give any satisfactory results, I was also stopped by a train/bus officer and had to pay 27 Euros for not having a card (?) associated with my transportation monthly pass. Great. I was not doing anything wrong, and yet I was forced to pay to avoid getting dragged to the police station. With all the stress bubbling up inside, I just could not help it but crying.

The officer felt sorry for me, but he just did not know what I’ve been through. I was trying to save money by staying at a cheap hotel a little bit away from campus (Formule 1 Hotel Cergy St. Martin), but now I would have been better off staying at a slightly more expensive hotel closer to campus.

Right now, I just don’t want to hear any French (including the TV) anymore. I’m fed up, I’m tired, and I am very angry for not being able to do anything while someone else rip you off just for the sake of government regulation. Of course, by not speaking French, they are more capable of exploiting you. Unbelieveable. Until I have a permanent housing, I think I will sound more and more skeptical and bitter. I don’t care. Screw you.

- to be continued... -

A Homeless Student

- Travel Journal: September 3, 2007 -

Also not a good day. I overslept and woke up at 10 am, whereas I initially intended to be at school by 9 am. Not that I have a class schedule or anything, it’s just that I want to take advantage of the internet on campus to continue my housing search more than anything else. This time, I tried to personally contact my country’s student association mailing list for help. I also decided to bring my large suitcase to campus and store it at the International Student Office, so I don’t have to move around carrying three pieces of luggage at once at any time.

So I did that, and I went to the room where the French language test (to determine which level I will be in – like I have to be tested anyway, I’m a complete beginner) is going to take place in. Long story short, we were given a presentation of survival things such as how to ask for a place, which train tickets to buy, etc. At the end, those who considered themselves complete beginners were suggested not to bother to take the test and automatically included into Group 1. Hey, sounds good to me. But we had to wait until 4 pm (we got out from the classroom at about 3 pm) for the room announcement starting tomorrow morning. Aw, shucks. After a little bit of surfing around and still had no luck from the apartment search, I waited with other students at the main hall for the room announcement. It turned out that the announcement was posted at the billboard at 4:45 pm. 45 minutes of standing there, chatting around without doing much of anything. Oh my God. Oh well, this is something to get used to. From the presentation earlier, I found out that 15 minutes late is common in France. I know this is 45 minutes late, but hey, go figure.

Since tonight would be my last night staying at the Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Christophe, once again I asked my Pepperdine colleague if I could stay at her place for one or two nights starting tomorrow. However, she said I could not since her roommate hasn’t come back yet and she did not want to start the roommate relationship on the wrong foot. She promised to ask her roommate for a favor if he is back tonight. I completely understand that, but I just couldn’t help feeling down once again since I would end up wasting more money for checking into another hotel. Nevertheless, I have to check out from this hotel tomorrow morning since it will be full-booked for the next two nights, at least.

- to be continued... -

Sunday Mourning

- Travel journal: September 2, 2007 -

Bleak, bleak Sunday. The lazy morning and cloudy sky did not help me get energized. I woke up at 7 am, but spent the morning watching 8 more episodes of “Witch Hunter Robin” and nothing else. Well, breakfast, of course. I washed up, got ready, and headed to ESSEC shortly after.

Originally, I thought the campus was closed as the doors were locked. Soon after spotting some people getting out of the building, I realized there is another entrance nearby. After presenting my student ID to the receptionist/guard, I was free to roam the campus. It did not take long to see that my apartment search still has not given me satisfactory results. Some rooms were said to be taken, some did not answer at all.

Apparently, my case was common in Paris. I found out that there were many people who were promised a room, just to find themselves pit together with 4 other persons to battle it out. They’re now looking for a place to stay as well, making them my direct rivals to find an apartment. One person even got her money taken away by a cheating landlord. I really felt sorry for her; I hope she gets a place to stay very soon. My situation is unfortunate, but I know there are people who suffer more than I do right now. Anyway, my boyfriend sent me some more links to try out, and he advised me to get a SIM card with Deutsche Telekom, which is a partner of Cingular (now AT&T) and T-Mobile. After being online for 4-5 hours, I got bored and moved to go to Auschan, the supermarket I visited yesterday.

Again, just my luck. Cergy’s commercial center was closed on Sundays, including Auschan. Finally tired and lost spirit to roam around Paris, I went back to the hotel around 5 pm. After some quick lunch, I suddenly felt sleepy. When I woke up, it was a little pass 9 pm. Oh God, now I could not call some people I wanted to call. It has more to do with courtesy than anything else. I have to wait until tomorrow morning. For now, I guess more episodes of “Witch Hunter Robin” are in order.

- to be continued... -

The Beginning of a Nightmare

- Travel Journal: September 1, 2007 -

This time, I made sure to note the location of my hotel to prevent yesterday’s long walk home from happening again. Later on, I discovered that GoogleMap AND ratp.fr mapped my hotel at a wrong location, and I had to change it manually.

OK, so I had to go to ESSEC to get wireless internet access free of charge. I encountered some minor problems connecting, but soon I was able to figure it out and ready to surf the internet. However, as expected, when I called the landlord one more time, I did not get the room. The Seattle girl decided to have an English girl (who speaks French) as a roommate. Even though it was anticipated, I could not help but felt very disappointed and broke down crying. After all I went through these past few days, the storm does not give a sign to calm down yet. I sent some more emails to some people and attempted to drown in my misery.

Not for long, though. A French guy who apparently is not an ESSEC student unsuccessfully tried to tap into ESSEC wireless network. At first, he asked for my ID and password to log in, but I refused, reasoning that he wouldn’t be able to log in since ESSEC would only allow one log in per ID. I do not know whether that’s true or not, but we are asked to keep our ID and password private, anyway. But I couldn’t help but pity him a little, so I allowed him to use my laptop for a little bit. He gladly accepted the offer, and my laptop was on his lap while he profusely checked his emails and cursed a little bit about some things I didn’t bother to know. After 5 minutes, he thanked me and returned my laptop.

Almost immediately after that little encounter, two Russian girls that I first met during orientation yesterday appeared from the corner. One of them seemed very happy to see my fingers clicking away on my laptop. She asked if I got to connect to the ESSEC wireless network. I said yes. She almost excitedly smiled and enthusiastically asked me how I did it, since the computing center was closed and she could not get some help. After some tampering to her laptop (it’s in Russian), the problem was solved almost immediately. Another exchange student also came to us; he has the same problem. Wow, go figure.

When she finally got online, she thanked me and said that she gave up the Paris trip (the exchange students have a Paris trip for 20 Euros today – I planned to go but was too crestfallen after the apartment incident) to figure out a way to get online. Hey, mission accomplished. Unfortunately, I could not help her friend since her laptop did not have a wireless card installed. I checked on the internet and apparently her laptop model does not have wireless connection capability. I told her she needed RJ45 cable in order to get internet connection in her dorm room; unfortunately, there is no way for her laptop to enjoy the wireless internet connection on campus. Oh dear.

Well, soon we went to Cergy commercial center and went to Auchan, a big French supermarket that really reminded me a lot to Carrefour. The girls went there once before to get some groceries, so they roughly know where the items are located. The supermarket was bustling with activities, and I myself brought some croissants, breads, bananas, and milk for snacking. I would’ve taken some pictures of Auchan, but my hands were all occupied. I plan to go back here tomorrow morning, though. Anyway, during the check-out, the supermarket also has self-checkout stations for 5 items or less. I immediately went there when one’s available. The girls, who at first went to queue at the regular counter, came to me and asked if I know how to operate the counter. Of course, I said, we have similar counters in the United States. Moreover, these Auchan self-checkout counters enable change of language, so I happily change it to English. The operation was very smooth and painless, and soon the girls enjoyed the quick and painless checkout, too. We parted ways after that since I needed to get some lunch as I had not eaten anything for the last 6 hours. However, they learned about my unfortunate apartment search fate and decided to ask their friend in Paris to help. That was very, very nice of them.

So, I went to get some lunch and went back to ESSEC to once again connect to the internet and emailed some more people before going home. The last obstacle before going home was the long line at the RER station. I needed to go to the RER counter to buy the one-month public transportation pass to save money. It was rather expensive, but considering the number of times I would be traveling every day, it will definitely be worth it. Fortunately, the counter guy knew some English and was able to help me quickly, and the train came soon after I entered the station, the one-month pass at hand. After emerging from RER underground, I walked for a good 15 minutes to reach my hotel. This time, I was not lost at all, thanks to hand-drawn map. The neighborhood that I passed reminded me to uptown Chicago a little bit, but since they spoke in French, it certainly gave off a different vibe.

At the hotel, I was fortunate to meet Jonathan, one of the hotel’s receptionists who actually understand English AND can speak English pretty well. Throwing away plan A,B,C that I prepared in case I meet a non-English-speaking receptionist, I told him to extend my hotel reservation for two more nights. Once again, it was quick and painless. Lovely. I was soon back in my room and spent the rest of my evening watching some recorded anime series “Witch Hunter Robin” and quietly anticipated my journey tomorrow. Honestly though, I don't think tomorrow's going to be better..

- to be continued... -

First Arrival, then Trouble

- Travel Journal: August 31, 2007 -

I was very nervous about going to ESSEC on the next day that I did not sleep well last night. I kept waking up after short nightmares. Also, I think I also got a little bit of jet lag (after all, France time is 9 hours ahead of California).

Anyway, the morning was colored by my room accidentally locked itself and refused to accept the access code, me asking around how to get to ESSEC, me walking to bus stop accompanied by an old (but very nice) guy, and me getting to the No. 45 bus that certainly is not that different from the Metro bus.



Oh God, when I opened the door to ESSEC campus and heard a voice calling my name, I couldn’t be happier to see my Pepperdine colleague at ESSEC. I was still amazed that I got to arrive at Paris and survived all this time with very minimal knowledge of French language, so seeing her was like a confirmation of “I am finally here, in France!” moment. This is the start of my life as a MBA exchange student at ESSEC, France! It was definitely nice to hear people conversing in English after not hearing it for what it seemed like a long, long time. Not that I mind French, though. Even though I don’t understand it much (as of now), I still think it’s the sexiest language and accent in the world.

The orientation went fairly smoothly, I must say. The students we met were nice; there is even a guy graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison! Oh my God, badgers everywhere!!! Anyway, here is a snapshot of students queuing to get their student IDs. Oh, and my camera’s battery was dead after that shot. I forgot to charge it last night. Lesson learned. Here is the last picture taken today:



After orientation, lunch, and a failed attempt of converting my US$ to Euro, the exchange students were divided into two groups for an hour-session about ESSEC student portal, webmail, and e-Learning. Seriously, my two immediate neighbors (one of them the Wisconsin guy) almost fell asleep and I could not blame them. The lady should’ve just given us the guide sheet and let us be on our way. I am 99.5% sure the students can figure out how to navigate around the portal and their email account, so an hour was really not necessary.

Now the fun part began. I had to go to Louvre to exchange my currencies, then to Notredame to check the apartment, and then go back to Cergy. From ESSEC, I took RER A to go to Charles de Gaulle Etoile Station. Then change train to yellow line to Louvre, get off to look for “Bureau d’Change”. Easy to find? Definitely not. After much wandering around, I finally got to exchange it with a very terrible rate (1 Euro = $1.479). Very bad, bad, bad considering in average it’s 1 Euro = $1.37.

Anyway, I had to go back to the yellow line, went as far as to Chatelet, change train to purple line to Saint-Placide. Walk for a bit to Rue Huysmans, where the apartment is. Guess what. Apparently I have yet to get the apartment room. There are a lot of people visiting that day and what my potential roommate said on the email “to bring the deposit and first month rent; then I will give you the key” did not apply. I was crestfallen, I really do hope I could get the room. It will be trouble if I don’t. Really.

Now go back to Cergy. At least now I only have to reverse it, but the bad thing is when I arrived at Cergy itself. The bus did not go through the bus stop I originally hopped on at the beginning of today. I had to walk the rest of my way. Getting lost? Of course! The weather’s getting cold and I had to walk for a good 30 minutes with a relatively heavy bag to boot. I finally arrived at the hotel around 8:30 pm. Definitely no appetite, just exhausted and ready to sleep. I have to check my email, though. I am so exhausted, and I really hope I get the room. Dear God, help me.

- to be continued... -

The Exhausted Traveler

- Travel journal: August 30, 2007 -

The plane arrived at 9:15 pm as scheduled in CDG Airport, Paris. The bags also arrived as scheduled, so at least I didn’t have to worry about getting back to the airport to pick up my luggage. My only concern was that I didn’t have time to exchange my US$ to Euro, as my designated taxi driver had already diligently waited outside of Terminal 2 for me. Moreover, I do not speak French while he does not speak English. Parfait (Perfect).

Anyway, we went straight outside and sure enough, we immediately load up my bags and went straight to Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Christophe. The video below showed just a glimpse of how dark it was when I began the journey. You probably couldn’t see any signs whatsoever and could barely hear my voice over the French radio station, but a footage is better than nothing, I guess.

(Note: The video was regrettably removed since I couldn't get it to work in Blogger. Technically, it finished uploading and everything, but it did not show up when I viewed the blog. If I have some spare time and can figure out what went wrong, I will upload it later, along with the hotel footage.)

So anyway, after a brief reroute (the driver first took me to Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Martin – luckily I brought my GoogleMap print out), we arrived at the designated hotel. The taxi driver was very kind to deduct the excess “reroute expense” from the total cost, and he even accompanied me inside to make sure the reservation was fine before bidding farewell. That was very gentlemanly of him. By the way, there is a Chinese food restaurant right next to Formule 1 Hotel ^_^.
This next footage was about what the hotel room looks like.

I should be heading to bed right? No. I brought my plug converter with me, and I plugged it in with a US-made surge protector. Guess what? The surge protector short-circuited when powered on. Terrified? HELL YEAH! Anyway, several prayers and shaking hands later, I plugged in my cell phone charger along with the converter. Nothing bad happened, everything seemed normal. The telephone charged normally and everyone’s happy. But I didn’t dare to plug the surge protector again. Perhaps I would never do it again.

All done? No. Suddenly the fire alarm blared out excitedly, and everyone’s kinda pissed off. Especially the shirtless, fat guy staying at across my room who went outside and yelled at the receptionist for a bit. The receptionist guy told me (in French) that somebody smoked and triggered the fire alarm. Dormitory living, anyone? Apparently, the smoking guy (or girl) was persistent in smoking (either that, or the fire alarm was feeling too excited) so that the alarm blared several times after that incident. Someone finally came over and inspected the alarm or something. I did not know exactly, as I was already subconscious at that time.

Oh yeah, there was a hot French guy staying about two doors away from me. When I first smiled at him, he winked at me. Sometime later, he knocked on my door just to say “Good evening” in French. I just smiled and shut the door as soon as I opened it because I was afraid in having further conversations in a language that I only knew 0.0001% about. Anyway, at last I was ready to sleep.

- to be continued... -

The Day of Departure

- Travel journal: August 29, 2007 -

Several hours before I go to LAX, I managed to arrange lunch with my mentor. Looking back, I was very glad about the decision. The lunch was great, The Athenaeum was such a beautiful private dining resort at Pasadena, and she was such a nice lady with serious determination. I really look forward to our further correspondences. I did not get pictures of the dining room since we're busy conversing, but I would like to share the library (claimed to be one of the most requested private room there) and the Einstein Suite.






Everything’s arranged at last. Storage for my stuff, storage for my brother’s car, tickets, everything’s OK. It’s too bad that the iPod shuffle that the company I worked with this summer sent has not arrived yet. I would’ve brought it to Paris with me. My cousin drove me to LAX and we arrived way earlier than I thought. 2 hours to kill in the Tom Bradley International terminal. How to kill time? How about some pictures?




Anyway, after a stupid purchase of a water bottle and an overpriced earphones ($15 as opposed to $3 for a similar model sold at one of the later stores), time flew by so fast and I was inside the plane going to France. After minding our own business for the first 9 hours, my neighbors finally started talking with me. To my right was an Irish guy who left home for Australia and New Zealand for the last 8 months, whereas to my left was an Australian woman who was going to Amsterdam.
After some interesting conversations about how great Australia and New Zealand were, how bungee jumping was not as enjoyable as sky diving (I always want to do sky diving, by the way), and how the lady was surprised to know that I originally came from a neighboring country (Indonesia and Autralia - hello!), they both agreed that the London Heathrow Airport that we were headed for was messy (a far cry from Beijing or Singapore’s Changi airport), but the CDG airport is even messier since nobody would want to speak in English. Great. Now I am terrified. How would I even survive on the first day? Darn it.

The lady was very nice to agree to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 with me since she’s also going outside of England. We parted ways as soon as we arrived at Terminal 4, which is the International Terminal. Anyway, the International Terminal of Heathrow was actually cool with a lot of British vibe. Here are some pictures:







I silently pleaded that CDG will not be as bad as my two ex-neighbors said.
God, help me please.

- To be continued... -

Prologue: Countdown to France

- Travel journal: Prologue -

My journey to France started with some preparations. Since I would be away from the United States for four months, there were things to take care of. Storage for my belongings and car, France visa, tickets, apartment in Paris or Cergy (where ESSEC, the host university is), and even a search for an apartment for after I come back to US on January are such things I had to do.

Exciting things awaited me, but this journey’s preparation is definitely without a hardship. Applying for visa was probably a rather interesting process, but the most troublesome matter was that the university did not receive my housing reservation form. Thus, I had to go find an apartment on my own.

But I tried to prepare my experience as wonderful as possible, that’s why I asked Omiru.com a question about what to wear in Paris. By the way, if you read my previous post where I complained about Omiru.com not answering my shoes question, they actually emailed me back the day after I published my post.

Still, when my very much anticipated experience unfolded (and is still unfolding as we speak) in front of my eyes, there was no way in Heaven that I would imagine something like this would happen in my lifetime. At least, I know that by the time I come back to US in late December, I would NEVER regret signing up as an exchange student for one-semester study abroad in France.

- End of Prologue -

This blog is back on!

Now that the blog owner has found a place to settle in Paris for four months, she will publish her daily journals (starting from August 29) in this blog.

Expect to see stories, pictures, and videos about musank's adventure in France (and Europe) soon!

- A bientot -

Blog on hold - owner in France

This blog is on hold since the owner is currently busy looking for a permanent residence in Paris, France. She is having such a difficult time, but definitely have faith that she would find an apartment really soon. Once she settles in, this blog will resume its business (or whatever's left of it).

À bientôt!

So Boring...

...that I am now all alone without my boyfriend at my apartment, watching "Confession of a Drama Queen", a movie I could care less with. My housemate went to see "Bourne Ultimatum" with her friends, a friend of mine sent some pictures of a delicious chocolate-strawberry cake she made for a farewell party, and I am just being miserable for not finding a pair of shoes to wear to a wedding party two weeks from now (do I mention I will be one of the wedding singers?). I even asked Omiru.com about the shoes since I had a tremendous difficulty finding a perfect pair of shoes to match my black and gold Chinese cheongsam dress, but I haven't heard from them despite their promised 24-48 hours response time.

OK, I blame no one for this stress. But I am just so dead bored that even my new hairdo (I just cut my hair this morning) failed to cheer me up this evening.

Yes, I am bitter. But I hope tomorrow's gonna be better.....maybe.